Blueprints
by oh-the-linsanity
Summary: After an atrocious explosion at Future Industries, Asami is left without an arm and leg. Plagued with the thoughts of being useless and incomplete, her friends help her stand on her own again—in more ways than one.


AN: Not gonna lie, but this has a bit of a fullmetal alchemist flair to it. Oh well. I liked it, and hopefully you will as well!

Warnings: It's a little gruesome at parts, so if you're squeamish I'd proceed with caution-I feel like the description is an accurate telling of what's to come.

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Blueprints

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"I like the hood design—but switch out the white wall tires for some black ones, give it a more modest look." She slammed the hood of the new satomobile model shut before she glanced at the side, noticing the shimmer of new gloss. "And for the Spirits' sake if you're going to do a pinstripe, make a statement—I don't want that pathetic thing on the side. Go big or go home."

"Yes ma'am. Ah, and Miss Sato? About the Future Industries logo…we've got numerous designs already drawn up if you'd like to go ahead and make a selec—"

Asami held her hand up. "I don't want to hear it. we'll deal with it later, alright? Let's just make sure we make this deadline first. I'm not changing the Future Industries logo—not yet."

Asami Sato walked out of the mechanics room with her head high, but her mind clogged with a million and one things to do. The new prototype satomobile was coming along, not to mention the new airplane designs that they were scheduled to unveil in about a month. She knew taking over her father's company wouldn't be easy—running such a thing could never be—but she didn't foresee such political turmoil.

She really needed some hot tea.

"Miss Sato!"

It took everything she had not to sigh as she walked into the main assembly floor of the factory. "I already told you, I wanted you to replace the cylinders with—"

"No, no it's much more serious than that!"

Asami paused, looking at him. He was short and wiry, an employee she didn't really recognize. "What are you talking about?"

The man turned around gesturing to the room of workers and yelled. "HEY! QUIET!"

The room went silent. Asami turned to the man, mouth open in protest, but he held a finger to his lips. "Listen," he whispered.

"I don't hear any—"

_tick tick tick tick tick—_

Eyes wide, Asami looked around. "Is that…? What is that noise?" Suddenly, a surprising dark chuckle bubbled from the back of the man's throat. "What's so funny?" she demanded, irritated. One on eye on him, she wandered to the car closest to her on the conveyor belt.

_tick tick tick TICK TICK TICK._

She grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him forcefully up before she slammed him down on the hood. "What did you do!" she shouted.

The entire floor was silent except for:

_TICK TICK TICK—_

The man, who she now realized wore no name tag, chuckled grimly. "That, Miss Sato is the sound of _payback._"

Asami gritted her teeth. She tossed the man aside before she ripped the hood up to reveal a mess of wires and contraptions, a fuse lit and ready to blow.

"_Once an equalist always an equalist." _He whispered.

"Everybody!" She shouted. "Get _DOWN!"_

_BOOM!_

_._

Mako frowned as he stared at the pages before him. His office was dimly lit, the setting sun making everything go a darker shade with every second. He had but one lamp on his desk, an eerie little thing with no shade, just the bulb. The thing flickered every once in a while, almost hissing. He normally didn't have a problem with the lighting, since he normally didn't work at the station so late. But today, with the recent Agni Kai bookings, he had a lot of paper work to do.

He liked to think that the light was to blame for why he was having such a tough time reading.

Finally, he couldn't help it. Mako glanced over to his ex-girlfriend who had decided to take a nap on the small love seat he had in the corner of his office. He balled up an old newspaper from two days ago, marred with coffee stains, and tossed it at her, nailing her in the head. "Korra?"

She let out an obnoxious snore. He tried not to laugh. He spoke louder. "Korra!"

She jolted awake. "No, _you_ forgot your pants," she mumbled, sleep drunk from her dream before she rubbed her eyes. "What—" she recognized where she was. "Aw, I was about to defeat the Fire Lord! What do you want?"

"Um, it's a little dark in here and I forgot my glasses. Do you think—" he took in a sharp breath. "Do you think you could tell me what this says?"

Korra stretched her arms and let out a yawn before she stood up. She knew Mako well enough to know it had nothing to do with the lighting. "Sure. Which paper?"

Thankful she didn't mention his poor literacy, he handed her the sheet of paper. Mako watched as her eyes slid side to side, quickly and with even pace—she was a fast reader, she always had been. She used to read him textbook after textbook before he took his police exams. "It's from Saikhan. Doesn't really say anything you don't already know about the bookings—he just wants you to write your personal account of what happened and have it submitted for filing by tomorrow night."

He froze. "Write?"

"Yeah," Korra drawled, tossing the paper back on his desk. She eyed him from the corner of her eye as she hopped on the side of his desk. "I could write it for you, if you want?"

Mako leaned back in his chair and sighed. "No, I can do it."

"Aw come on! You always used to let me write your reports."

Mako chuckled. "That was because the activities after used to be…" he trailed off, suddenly feeling awkward. Korra, however, just laughed.

"…fun?" she finished. "Well, fun is very diverse. We can still have fun!" Her eyes lit up. "You've yet to come drinking with me!"

He reached up and rubbed his lower back. "It's not fun for my back having to carry your drunk ass home."

"Whatever," Korra teased before she leaned over and swiped the pen from Mako's hand. "Just let me do it, I'll have it done in no time!"

"What the—!" he reached over, trying to snag the pen back, but her grip was firm. "Korra, you can't do it, it's my job!"

Korra rolled her eyes. "What, you gonna arrest me for cheating or something? We're not in school Mako—calm down."

"I'll arrest you for being obnoxious, that's what I'll do."

She used her other hand to pinch at his mustache. "ooh, nice comeback!" she mocked with laughter.

"Korra, honestly—OW! What are you trying to do, rip off my mustache?"

"Maaaaaaaybe."

"Korra—!"

Suddenly, the door of his office was practically kicked down, a metalbender in uniform staring them down. "Mako! You're needed down at the Sato Factory!"

Korra and Mako jumped on their feet. "Why, what's going on? A theft?"

The officer shook his head. "Worse—the whole place as been bombed!"

_"What!" _Korra and Mako hissed at the same time. It was practically a race to the doorway before the two bolted down the hall, running for the Police garage. "Who on earth would bomb Asami's factory?" Korra shouted, angry.

"My guess, someone bitter from the revolution. Someone angry at Hiroshi for failing—"

"—or angry at Asami by association."

Mako hopped on his motorcycle and started the engine. Korra whipped out her glider and blew it open, the blue wings painted with Asami's own design. "I'll meet you there."

They took off.

.

The whole thing was a disaster zone.

Future Industries had grown in the past few years. Republic City, being the large urban center it was, could only accommodate growth in one way—not by expansion, but by height. Asami's factories were a few stories tall, manufacturing on the main and basement floors while offices, design studios and show rooms were on the floors above. All in all, Asami's cluster of innovation had been destroyed, leaving Mako to watch in horror as a corner of the factory was collapsing, bursting in flames.

Korra flew down, twirling her glider closed. As she shouted, several waterbending fireman ran by, bending a long stream of water, trying to hose the place down.

Ash stuck to both their faces as panic ensued around them. Officers were taking reports, others attending to employees who were just stumbling out. There were shouts about people still inside but the ever pressing question for Mako and Korra was for the CEO of Future Industries.

"Has anyone seen—!"

"—Bolin?"

Mako turned back around and the sound of Korra's voice. There, he saw his brother, scruffy beard smeared in ash and flickering with embers as he held a small woman in his arms. "Bolin, what are you—?"

Bolin handed off the woman to the medic before he ran over to Mako. "Nobody knows where she is, Mako! That was the last person! Everyone's been accounted for but Asami!"

Behind them, the right wing of the nearest building collapsed in a burst of flame. "ASAMI!" Bolin screamed into the wreck. He started to go back in there but Mako jumped on him, wrapping his arms around his brother. Bolin was taller than him now, muscles larger than his, and it took everything he had to stop his little brother from running into the burning building. "Bo, stop! You can't go in there—the whole wing is about to collapse!"

"But Asami—!"

"I'll go!" Korra shouted, picking up a wet cloth and tossing it over her shoulders. "I'm the only one who can put out the fires, move the debris and make the air breathable." She looked Bolin in the eye. "I'll get her out okay?"

"Korra! Be careful!" Mako shouted.

"Like I haven't heard that before!" she shouted over her shoulder before she ran into the flames.

.

Fire was something she was used to. Fire was her everything, sometimes. It burned in the pit of her stomach and fueled her breath, her strength. But when the fire licked at her arms and burned her skin, it was too hot, too powerful.

But she didn't have time to think about the pain. She had to find Asami.

It was dark, despite all the fire. She couldn't tell what used to be what on account that everything was charred black. Metal bent unnaturally and the remains of cars on the once-conveyor belt were something sad and pathetic, experiments gone wrong. Korra kept a steady bubble of clean air around her—the wet cloth she brought in was dry, the air without water as well. But she stepped over a blown door and looked underneath a partially collapsed wall when she saw it.

A familiar arm, complete with Future Industries logo on the sleeve and all.

"Asami!" Korra reached through the flaming rubble. "Asami get up we have to—"

She froze in terror.

Korra tugged on the arm once more, and it broke free.

_Her arm broke free. But not the rest of her._

_"ASAMI!"_

Bending be damned, Korra started clawing her way through bent metal and broken walls. Her eyes stung with tears as she moved piece after piece trying to get to her.

"Asami! Asami, it's Korra, do you hear me?"

Korra tried to carefully, but quickly, dig and bend the debris away from her. As she unearthed more of her fragile sight, Korra tried to look away at the sight of burned fabric and pools of blood. Korra noticed ugly burns up her collarbone and neck. But she couldn't afford to stop and stare; the Avatar kicked one last piece of debris away before she collected Asami in her arms and ran out of the factory.

_._

"Out of my way!"

Shocked and horrified, bystanders cleared the way as the Avatar carried the last person out of the factory. Korra kept her head up, trying not to look down as she shouted orders to nearby medics. Bolin ran up to her first, stumbling over his own two feet. "Korra! Is she—"

"Not now!" She snapped, handing Asami off someone as they put her on a stretcher. "I'll be overseeing all her surgeries and care, got it?"

The medics nodded as they started with treatment. "Miss Avatar, where's her—?"

"Long gone," she said quickly. She turned around, one foot in the back of the ambulance. "Bolin, you meet us down at the hospital. Take Mako's motorcycle. You'll be the first one to see her when she's stable. And Mako—" she stared him down. "Find whoever the hell did this to her. And if you don't kill him first, you be sure to tell him I will, avatar be damned."

He nodded slowly.

"She'll be fine." She said quietly.

Mako thought he heard an "eventually" in there, but he just took out his notepad and started asking questions.

Not that it really mattered—he knew whoever did this was dead.

But he was okay with that. Kept his hands clean, at the least.

.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_ "Not until…..condition….stable."_

_Beep._

_Beep._

_"…permanent….nerve damage….rough break…"_

_Beep._

_Beep._

_"…a lot of pain…."_

_Beep._

_Beep._

_"…but…anyone can…..she….always…."_

_Beep._

_Beep._

_"She's always strong."_

_Beep._

The first thing Asami Sato realized when she woke up was she was not at the factory, but at the hospital.

The second thing she realized was when she tried to get up, something was very, very wrong.

"Whoa there, tigerdillo," Bolin laughed lightly, pushing Asami back down with two fingers. "You just rest alright?"

Asami groaned, peeking through half-lidded eyes—everything was much too bright. "Bolin?" She reached out to touch his face. He was right beside her, knees brushing against the metal frame of her bed but when she tried to she just couldn't. Panic bubbled inside her, making her blood run hot. "Bolin, what's going on? Why can't I…why can't I move my.." her voice trailed off as her foggy vision grew clearer.

She couldn't move her arm because…

_Because it wasn't there._

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "B-Bolin…m-my arm…it's…it's—!" Asami gasped in horror. "It's gone."

Slowly, she felt the bed creak with his weight as he carefully crawled in with her. He pulled the hospital blankets up and tucked them around the both of them before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I know, I know," he chanted over and over again.

.

The next day Korra came in with a vase of flowers. She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly before she set them on Asami's bedside table. "I didn't really know what to get you—Mako picked them out. He'll be by later though, promise."

Asami just stared.

"Maybe flowers weren't a great idea," Korra mumbled, but she took a seat beside Asami regardless. "So…do you feel any better today?"

Asami kept staring. "Was it you?"

Korra blinked. "Huh?"

"Were you the one that told them to amputate?"

If it were possible, Korra looked as pale as Asami. "You didn't see it, your arm was—"

Asami turned her head away. "You didn't have the right," she growled.

The chair screeched across linoleum floor as Korra jumped to her feet. "You didn't have to see yourself when you came in, Asami! Spirits!" Korra shouted. Against her better judgment she reached over and yanked the Sato's face to the side, forcing her to look at her. "There was no decision—your arm was already gone!" Korra sighed before she leaned down, knocking foreheads with Asami. "It was already gone," she repeated, quiet. "I'm so sorry."

The large window in her hospital room let in much too bright sunlight, soft summer breezes blowing the apricot curtains about. She listened to the songs the birds sang and she realized they sounded just like her mother, just like her life before it all fell apart.

"_once an equalist always an equalist," _Asami whispered to herself.

Korra's eyes roamed her face as she continued to wipe away stray tears from both their cheeks. "What?" she murmured, baffled.

"Korra…"

The Avatar waited, but Asami just stared at the window, past gossamer curtains and saw two birds on a rooftop. She counted the times they answered each other before her eyes grew heavy and fell asleep.

.

The next morning she woke up with an incredible pain shooting up her left calf.

Dry lips parted and she rolled her head, her back arching with blinding pain, pricking her nerves and boiling her blood hot. She bit her lip, biting and gagging on screams before she felt someone weave their fingers through hers; first her left hand, then the right.

Mako leaned down and wiped her brow with a cold cloth. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before his free hand went up to smooth her hair. "Korra's just looking at your leg. I know it hurts—but push through it, I know you can."

Korra looked up and saw the boys giving Asami comfort—whispering kind nothings, giving soft touches and gentle kisses to her fevered head. Bolin even started cracking a few jokes, some of which were actually funny this time around. But as Korra concentrated on her leg, slight smiles and faintly stitched hope crumbled into what she had feared all along.

"What is it?" Mako asks, and it's almost like the hairs of his mustache and beard are stuck up with static, receiving the signals of her worry like it was electrical blips.

Asami's leg, black and burned, was simply not a leg worth having.

"Her leg—it needs to be amputated."

"No!"

All three of them turned to stare at the engineer writhing in pain. "You can't—you can't take my leg!" Asami hissed. She gnawed on her lip so hard, blood started trickling down and dripping like a leaky faucet.

Bolin took a quick look at Korra and knew there was no alternative. "Korra wants to save your life, Asami."

Hot tears blurred her vision. "No, please! There has to be something else!" She lifted her weary head and saw her left leg, burned and battered, scorched black and red. It was awful and hurt something fierce. She tried moving it but the damn thing wouldn't budge, not really. Half of her body had been burned in the explosion; small windy burns crawled along her abdomen and stretched up to slink around her collarbone and neck. First her left arm, and now her left leg? Was this how it was going to be? Living her life, cut in half?

"What am I supposed to do without a leg and an arm, huh?" Asami spat, words shaking. "Useless…" she murmured."

"You are not worthless, Asami Sato," Mako growled. "Don't you dare say that again."

"Really? Tell me, what in hell's name am I supposed to when…when there's only half of me!" She shouted. "What am I supposed to do when I can't even stand on my own?"

Bolin reached over and gently grabbed her chin. "That's why you have us," he whispered, kind. "Me, Mako, Korra—we'll be the leg you need to stand on. The arm you need to hold on to until you can do it all on your own."

Asami froze.

She scanned the three of them, their smiles matching; gentle, sweet. Their eyes sparkled with something more than the sun's reflection and when she gripped Mako and Bolin's hands, she swore their pulse was the strongest thing she'd ever felt.

"….but what if I can't stand on my own ever again? What if I always need you to…" she swallowed, "Lend a hand?"

Korra let out a breathy laugh, but because of her question or the badly timed pun, Asami wasn't sure. "I've come to learn that's what friends are for, right?"

Mako smiled. "But don't worry—you'll be able to stand on your own. I know it."

"How?"

"Because you're _you."_

And for once, Asami decided to believe it just might be enough this time.

.

When Asami woke up, she truly felt like just a half.

Korra never really left, and when she did, Mako or Bolin would keep watch in the seat beside her. The boys beards grew scruffy, the circles under their eyes grew heavy. Korra would do the same routine bandage changes, along with healing sessions and administering new IVs and other medications. She'd swipe extra pudding for them to share and for a while Asami didn't talk, but just listened. She already knew a lot about her three friends, but they were extraordinary people, composed of complex layers and hidden compartments, filled with enough secrets to fill a coffin.

"When you aren't looking, I take books from your library so I can practice writing," Mako told her one afternoon, the rain pattering loud rhythms on the window.

"I didn't actually find Pabu—I stole him," Bolim admitted one evening, the night so quiet and still that he leaves the window open.

"I wish Mako and I never broke up," Korra told Asami one morning, the sky overcast, but the birds still chirping like the sun was warming their feathers. "I wish we could have made it work." Korra glanced at Asami. "But…I guess you know how that feels," she whispered as an afterthought, trying to fiddle with something important to distract herself.

"Mako was always yours," Asami said, but there was no bitterness, just contempt. "I still think he's yours to be honest."

Korra smacked her lips, finally twisting them in a lopsided grin. "Maybe he is. Maybe he's mine, just as much as he is yours and Bolin's. Maybe we were all destined to be a family."

Asami watched as Korra moved with the fluidity of a waterbender and when she spared Asami a small smile, Asami saw countless years of _life _in the blues of her eyes.

"Since when did that Avatar wisdom kick in?"

Korra stared for a moment before she gave a chuckle and said, "I don't know…but it never seems to leave."

And for a moment, Asami doesn't feel like a half—she feels whole.

.

"There's a letter for you, Miss Sato."

Asami looked to her left—Mako was still asleep. She stretched out her right hand. "Ah, yes, I'll take it thank you."

The nurse handed her the letter before quietly leaving, shutting the door behind her. Asami turned the letter over, reading the inscription on the front of the envelope:

_From Hiroshi Sato—_

She crumpled it up and tossed it across the room.

_"Once an equalist always an equalist." _She thought.

She fell asleep, nightmares plaguing her thoughts.

.

"I'm not an equalist."

Bolin looked up from the paper he's been reading, mouth agape. "I—I know. Of course not."

She turned her head. "I'm not a traitor." She said, and Bolin folded the paper and climbed into her hospital bed.

He laid on his side, leaning on his elbow, his hand supporting his head. His other fingers danced up her arm, up her cheek and bopped her nose. "What's this all about, huh?"

His breath smelled like dumplings. "Once an equalist, always an equalist," Asami repeated for the umpteenth time. "I've never been an equalist! But I'm not…I'm not some traitor to non-benders. I don't know what people want from me! I don't know what people want me to be!"

It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being Bolin's legs tangling themselves into her hospital sheets. "You are Asami Sato. You are whatever you say you are."

She looked down at her missing limbs. "Apparently that hasn't been enough."

"It's always enough," Bolin told her before he added, "Maybe you just haven't said it loud enough yet."

Asami snorted. "Yeah great. My father's an equalist. My factory—his factory—Future Industries are in ruins! I've always been his shadow, trying to clean up his name, trying to clean up my name!" She snarled, tossing a quick glance at the floor where the envelope still lay. "Damn father even thought he could send me a letter—"

"A letter?" Bolin asked, sitting up. He scanned the room. "Where? What'd it say?"

"I didn't open it."

Bolin hopped off the bed, catching sight of its crumpled form. He picked it up and began carefully smoothing the wrinkles. "…can I open it?"

Asami didn't respond.

He knew he shouldn't, that it wasn't any of his business, but he couldn't stop himself. He ripped the letter open slowly, careful with each fold:

_4__th __book, top shelf, page 127._

_I'm so sorry, Asami._

_I hope this helps._

_—Dad_

Bolin looked up and saw tears rolling down Asami's cheeks.

"Rotten father," Asami sobbed before Bolin went back to lying next to her until she fell asleep.

.

Korra kicked down the door to Hiroshi's office. Mako groaned. "We had a key."

She waved him off, stepping inside and looking around. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She noticed the bookshelf behind his desk. "Think that's the one?"

"I don't know, check the 4th book." Mako said, before rummaging through Hiroshi's desk.

"Check the 4th book," Korra mocked before she used her airbending to whisk the book right into her hand. She flipped to the 127th page.

"What's it say?" Mako tilted his head and read the spine of the book. "…Written by Councilman Sokka?"

"Yeah, it's Sokka's book. I read it back at the compound when I was a kid," Korra mused. "Page 127 is just talking about some of his history with Aang when he was ending the 100 year war…." She used her finger to help her scan the page. "—What? This is just about Sparky Sparky Boom Man!"

"…pardon?"

Korra rolled her eyes. "Combustion Man, I guess I could say. Um, he was just this assassin Prince Zuko hired to try and kill Aang, back before they were friends."

Mako leaned in and tried to read as well—there were a lot of technical words Mako didn't recognize. "Uh, why'd they call him Combustion Man?"

"Because he could blow stuff up with his mind. His firebending was combustion. So dangerous he—" she paused, smile stretching across her face. "He blew up his own limbs and replaced them with metal ones!" She tossed the book in his hands and ran out of the office. "Come on! We got some supplies to get!"

.

Mako came in rolling a cart, Korra holding a notepad, Bolin trailing behind. The rattling of wheels on the floor startled Asami awake. "What's going on?"

Mako set the cart at the end of the bed. "I would have went ahead and ordered the metal but—"

"—They wanted some expert advice." Lin Beifong came waltzing through the door, her presence powerful as usual. "Hey, kid. How's the pain?"

Lips tight, Asami answered, "It isn't too bad these days."

Lin nodded. "Good, cause chances are it's about to get worse." Lin started picking up the samples of metals on the cart. At the third one, Lin rolled her eyes and tossed the scrap piece at Korra's face, causing her to sputter. "I told you that kind was useless—too weak!"

"But the guy at the shop said—"

"Do you think he knows as much as I do? Not likely."

"Uh, guys?" All three of them stopped and looked at Asami. "What's this about?"

Lin stepped forward. "Your friends wanted to make sure your prosthetic limbs were up to par, so they decided a metalbender might do some good." She jabbed Korra. "You tell her whatever you want on it. She'll help you draw out the blueprints. Once that's done, I'll try and make the leg and arm. The boys and Korra will help tinker with it. Good? Okay, but first thing's first is which metal you want to make it out of because strong is good, but that also means heavy—"

"Whoa, whoa, wait." Asami said, shaking her head. "I—I don't know how to design _limbs."_

Korra shrugged, biting on the end of a pen. "You design cars, right? Cars seem a lot more complicated that an arm or a leg?"

Asami almost slammed her head back into the headboard. "There's so much minute detail! I worked with mechanics who were experts on engines and inner mechanics—I can fix a car, but I don't know how to build one! I just design them. An arm and leg requires doctor's knowledge and metal expertise and and—!"

Korra laughed, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down! I'm the healer! I know tons about how arms and legs move. Lin's the metal expert. Mako and Bolin are meticulous—they'll weld and bend the real small parts. So you see? We can build it—we just need your vision first."

Asami looked across the room, scanning their faces; they all wore bright smiles and looks of determination. "You're really going to do this?"

Bolin laughed like she said something stupid—and in a way, she had. "We're wasting time already!"

Korra handed Asami the pen and held the notebook in her lap, steady. "Get drawing."

.

"Alright, there's the basic sketch." Asami said as Korra handed Lin the paper. Lin looked it over, even going as far to twist the paper left and right.

"Titanium?" Lin asked.

"Is that a problem?" Asami asked.

Lin huffed, amused. "One of the stronger metals, but it can be done." She squinted. "What's supposed to go here?" she asked, pointing to a rough patch of blank space.

"The Future Industries logo."

From the corner of the room, Bolin was laying at the titanium for Lin. "Atta girl," he whispered, proud.

Lin was an expert metalbender, but it still took Korra and Lin two days to make the leg and arm. Korra would constantly loom over Lin, gently pointing out where things had to bend, where the material needed to bend the most. They had help from Sokka's book, along with a mechanic to help with wiring. When the major frame was done, Mako and Korra went to welding and shaping the slightest details. By then, Asami had finally fallen asleep, drugged on morphine.

"I think she's going to be okay," Korra whispered with a smile as she watched Mako melt and weld, a small fire on his index finger.

"All things considered," Mako mumbled. He paused and looked up at her sleeping figure. "After all she's been through…she's strong."

He went back to work, Korra observing. The flame reflected in her eyes, along with the small lamp set up in the corner of the hospital room. For a few seconds her attention to the arm faded and she looked up at Mako—tired and somewhat groomed, he still smiled as he worked. Without thinking, she rested her tired head against his shoulder. He didn't even as much as phase.

"We all are," Korra whispered. His body rumbled with quiet laughter before he leaned over and gave a slow kiss to the top of her head. "This is true."

She smiled, the wavering figure of flames and hot metal flickering in her vision before she drifted off to sleep.

.

When Asami woke that morning, Bolin had scooted the small table next to her bed. He was working on her arm, her leg already finished and off to the side. "What's that?"

Bolin didn't register what was going on at first. Asami wiggled her one leg, catching his attention. "Oh! I was just putting the final touches on your arm! A Sato's got to look cool, right?"

"What's the logo made of?"

Bolin stuck his tongue between his teeth in concentration. "It's super weird! Chief Beifong gave it to me a long time ago when I asked her to teach me to metalbending. It's really malleable—-more so than any other metal. Perfect to fit a mold!"

Asami noticed the color—it was charcoal black, a nice contrast to the bright silver of the titanium. "Where'd she get it?"

A shrug. "I think Lin said she got it from her mother, who got it from Councilman Sokka." He explained. "Anyway," he gave a cry of triumph. "All done!" He held up the arm, the silver of the titanium catching the morning sunlight.

Asami smiled.

.

The next thing Asami knew, she was disoriented.

Korra came in and out of focus, sometimes close, sometimes across the room. When she finally was in focus she leaned down and wiped her brow with a cloth. "You knocked yourself out with the pain. Attaching them was even more painful than we thought." She offered an apologetic smile. "But it's done and over now." She three her head to her arm and leg. "go on, try it out!"

Asami was suddenly out of breath as she tried wiggling her fingers and toes. At first it was weird, a strange sensation. But then—

They moved.

She tossed her head back in childlike laughter. "Oh my spirits! My arm! I have two arms now! And two legs!" She lifted her arm and saw the Future Industries logo, small but loud, on her forearm. She looked to her three friends standing at the edge of her bed, smiling even larger than she.

"Thank you!" Asami cried. "Thank you!"

All three of them jumped on her bed, hugging and squeezing and drowning in laughter.

.

From then on, Asami clanked when she walked.

It was a difficult process but as soon as she was up and walking, she was back to rebuilding Future Industries. Not everything was in shambles—but a lot of it was. It took a lot of work: meetings with sponsors and partners, showing off designs and trying to get more donations any way she could. She tried to gain the support as Asami Sato, not just as Hiroshi's Sato's daughter. She tried to get by on her own designs—she tried to make everything new once again. One year went by, then two, but things started to finally look up with productions sky rocketing and support rampant. One gentleman, one of her first sponsors, gentle and kind, stopped her one day and asked, "If you're going for something entirely new, why still call it Future Industries in the first place?"

Sometimes she wondered that herself. But countless nights lying awake, staring at the pile of unopened letters from her father in her desk helped her remember, among other things.

"It's hard to explain," Asami started, staring at her metal arm. "But I think of it this way: Future Industries was—is—a respectable company. It made reliable machinery and was a leader in industry. Nothing ever changed in the quality of craftsmanship. My father ruined our reputation by building machines for Amon and the equalists. Hiroshi Sato is an equalist. But Future Industries did nothing wrong. The people who build and help me design were not equalists—just men trying to earn a decent pay."

Asami laughed. "Look at this," she tapped her leg, with her arm, metal on metal. "I was broken and beaten for a long time. Just like the company's reputation. But instead of taking pity on myself, my friends helped me realize that I could rebuild myself, that I can rebuild my name. I am Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries. That is what I make of myself."

The man laughed, kind. "Those are quite a set of words, Miss Sato."

She smiled. "Perhaps I should write it all down for a speech."

The man's eyes crinkled as he smiled. He gestured behind her. "Looks like there's no need."

Behind her, citizens and employees broke out in cheers and applause.

Amongst all the noise, a few people came up and clapped her on the back, shook her hand vigorously. "With a knockout combo of brains and heart, you'll win this city back in no time Miss Sato," the man nodded. "I guarantee it."

.

"We're going to die."

"Oh, can it Bolin!"

"Look, I just don't want to die, alright? Mako told me all about your driving."

_Smack! _"What did you tell him? I'm the Avatar I can do something as simple as driving!"

"Look, you're driving has always been questionable—OW! Stop tugging on my mustache!"

"Make me!"

Asami laughed in the back seat. "Both of you, shut up, or we don't take the prototype out of a spin."

Things got quiet.

"That's what I thought. Anyway," Asami flicked Korra in the forehead with her metal arm. "None of you get to drive, just me."

"Awwww Asami! You told me I could drive!" Korra pouted, sinking in the front seat.

"Up!" she chirped, a bright smile on her face. Korra rolled her eyes, but complied, crawling in the back to nestle next to Mako.

"Shot gun!" Bolin cried, jumping in the front seat.

Asami fiddled with the mirrors before Mako's worried tone came from behind. "As an officer of the law, I feel obliged to remind you the speeding laws dictate—"

"And I'd like to inform you that once this thing hits the market, you'll have to change the speeding laws because this baby doesn't know slow!"

"Asami, please just be care—"

"WHOOOOOOO!"

.

"Man, that was fun! The way you ripped around that corner! I thought Mako was going to jump out the car he was so terrified!"

Asami laughed with Bolin as she opened the front door to her house. "I think if Mako's scarf hit Korra in the face one more time, she was going to strangle someone with it."

Bolin laughed louder, a snort getting caught in the fit. Asami turned on the lights and carelessly threw her keys on the side desk, right into to a large stack of unread letters. Bolin continued rambling about the day's outing, unaware of her trance like stage. Finally, he stopped when he noticed her collecting the pile in her arms. "What are those?"

She looked at the pile in her arms before she looked up, a crooked smile stretching across her face. "I have a few letters I have to read."

"You sure?"

She picked up the first one, ripping it open and sloppily unfolding the pages.

_Asami,_

_Your mother would be proud._

_—Dad._

The words on the page blurred, tears dripping off her cheeks to blur ink on paper. "Yeah, I'm sure," she choked out.

Bolin smiled. "Atta girl."


End file.
